A vision is a clear roadmap that outlines where the center is headed, and gives employees an opportunity to feel connected and invested in their destination.
There are two stonemasons building a wall. You walk up to the first stonemason and ask, “Do you like your job?” He looks up at you and replies, “I’ve been building this wall for as long as I can remember. The work is monotonous. The stones are heavy and lifting them day after day can be backbreaking. I’m not even sure if this project will be completed in my lifetime. But it’s a job. It pays the bills.” You thank him for his time and walk on.
About thirty feet away, you walk up to a second stonemason. You ask him the same question, “Do you like your job?” He looks up and replies, “I love my job. I’m building a cathedral. Sure, I’ve been working on this wall for as long as I can remember, and yes, the work is sometimes monotonous. The stones are heavy and lifting them day after day can be backbreaking. I’m not even sure if this project will be completed in my lifetime. But I’m building a cathedral.”
The work is the same, yet the stonemasons each have a very different view.
This is the catalyzing power of a clear vision.
Research shows that a vision is critical, too, for 9-1-1 telecommunicators. Employee engagement matters. And to engage employees at a high level, People Driven Leaders start with an integrating vision.
WHY DOES VISION MATTER?
A vision gives the organization purpose. In the example above, the stonemason who doesn’t like his job is focused only on the work in front of him. This backbreaking and monotonous daily labor is all he can see. This limited view hinders his ability to derive meaning from the work.
In contrast, the stonemason who loves his job knows why he comes to work each day. He’s driven to work through the tough parts of his job because he can see where all his effort is ultimately going — to the creation of something larger and more important than himself.
A vision is a clear roadmap that outlines where the center is headed, and gives employees an opportunity to feel connected and invested in their destination.
HOW VISION IMPACTS 9-1-1 CENTERS
One comm center in the Southwest knows the importance of vision firsthand. In 2009, this center was struggling. Three quarters of trainees were quitting before training was over. Overall turnover was nearly 40 percent. Exit interviews revealed patterns of bullying and mistreatment, from both trainees and line employees.
This center’s leadership team knew something had to change. The manager and assistant manager asked themselves and their employees an important question: “How do we want to treat people?”
The employees’ answers became the center’s roadmap forward, and served as its new mission statement:
“We protect those who serve, we serve those who protect, we help those in need.
Anytime and every time.
We will achieve these goals and provide excellent customer service by adhering to these values:
Integrity, Teamwork and Respect.“
This center’s new mission was something each employee helped create, and because each person had a personal stake in it, these values became the foundation for the center’s new way forward.
A clear vision and inclusive mission paid off, and in 2011, the center was named the state’s NENA/APCO Communication Center of the Year — a 180-degree change from the center that was struggling to attract and retain top talent just a couple years before.
HOW TO BRING A NEW VISION TO YOUR CENTER
You may never have created a vision or unifying mission for your communications center before — and that’s okay! What matters is the fact that you work to give it one now. This is an opportunity for you and your employees to decide together what your center stands for and where it’s headed.
As you begin brainstorming, ask yourself a few questions. What is your center’s current mission statement? Is it separate from the one its parent agency has?
Do employees know what this mission represents? How does it affect their work every day?
If your center doesn’t currently have a mission, what are you doing right now to bring your team together?
The answers to these questions can help you determine where your center is and give you an idea of where you and your employees can take it, together, moving forward.
Thanks for reading this article, containing excerpts of my upcoming book, “People Driven Leadership: How the Best 9-1-1 Centers Inspire Positive Change.” In anticipation of its release on April 13th, I’m excited to share brief snapshots like this each Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for The Healthy Dispatcher community.
This is the seventh article of 20. Stay tuned for the next!
“People Driven Leadership: How the Best 9-1-1 Centers Inspire Positive Change” will be available on April 13, 2020, the beginning of National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. For more details, visit The Healthy Dispatcher website.
